Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I was not able to see the illustrations so it is hard to give a fair review but the text was very interesting and informative.

A really interesting and well researched book that helped to learn a lot about life at the edge of the Roman Empire.
I strongly recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

It's quite amazing how much stuff the Romans left behind. Luckily archaeologists know what to make of it all. This book is a helpful guide to Roman life along Hadrian's Wall, but I am missing the people themselves in the book. I see the pictures of the finds and it helps me imagining how every day life might have been. But I would have liked to read more about how people on both sides of the wall dealt with each other. What did they think about the other side? How did they view the world they inhabited? We get a glimpse of that with the inscriptions on burial sites and I would have liked to hear more about life on the border in their own words.
Still, the book is a good starting point for an extended walk along Hadrian's Wall or for writers of historical fiction.

Interesting look into the past. Told through the interpretation of objects found in or near Hadrian's Wall, and explaining their uses and how they related to daily life. Very well illustrated. Just very interesting!

Wonderful and detailed book which opens up a new world of living on the edge of the Roman empire. Just simply, REALLY interesting.

An interesting premise - step into the shoes of the people living on the "Roman Frontier" along Hadrian's Wall in ancient Britain via an examination of the objects that have been found/excavated there over the centuries - although it ended up being more of a look at the life of the objects themselves rather than a real exploration of life at Hadrian's Wall. I wanted more details about the people (how did the native Britons and the Roman army think of each other? What was daily life like for a soldier vs. a peasant? How did the Roman soldiers handle an environment so different from their home?) and even about the wall itself (did it serve its intended purpose? What did it look like in its heyday vs. the ruins we can see now? How was life different at the forts along the wall versus in the emptier stretches? What did people on either side think of the wall as it was being built, and after?). Regardless, the examination of the archaeological finds was fascinating, and it was thought-provoking to read the theories about each object and be able to look at the photos up-close.

A lot of primary objects shown within the text - almost the text is supporting the images. More of a visual and context of the time and the topic. Great for those who want a visual of the Roman Empire at the edge of its control.

From a military history perspective, it is hard for me to describe how much I enjoyed ‘Living on the Edge of Empire’. I really found the book hard to put down.
All readers will appreciate the wealth of fascinating photographs, the majority of which I hadn’t seen before. Most of the objects are in an amazing state of preservation considering their age, and give a moving insight into people’s everyday life on the bleak forbidding frontier.
Dr. Rob Collins and his team of curators pitch the narrative descriptions at the right level for general readers as well as aspiring historians. I particularly liked the fact that Collins also included non-military sections of the book – religions, the local populace, various crafts and some as yet unidentified objects.
As it’s a book that I will keep referring to in the future, I plan to buy a paper copy. The Kindle version is fine, but it is not easy to track the description of the photographs. Perhaps this is just an easily fixed teething problem.

As someone who has visited several sites along Hadrian's Wall, I thought this book would just be a nice reminder of my visits, but it is so much more. Anyone planning a trip along Hadrian's Wall really should have this book with them - or read it just before they go. When most people think of the Wall, Roman soldiers come to mind first and foremost. This book teaches us about the everyday people and their lives - as much as the archaeology allows. The photos are amazing (I think I spent far longer looking at them than actually reading!), and the section of items that haven't been figure out yet will have you puzzling over them.
A really great book for lovers of Roman history and those with a passing interest.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advance copy to review. This review is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

Read this as a supplement to my other reading material as a classical studies student.

This was a well laid out depiction of life on the edge of the Roman Empire. I am local to the area so am inspired to make another visit to Hadrian's wall!

The material chosen to appear is very relevant, and I found this to be well researched and written!

Thank you to Netgalley for this free copy in exchange for an honest review

Download the PDF. The kindle version has formatting issues and does not include all of the pictures.

This was a really cool way to teach about life along Hadrian's Wall. I learned quite a bit. I wish there had been more photos of the landscape and remaining portions of the wall to get a little better sense of the world, but overall this was great.

An easy to read, comprehensive and interesting look on both civilian and military life along Hadrian's Wall. Roman Britain is something that I'm personally interested about, and this book gave a great view into that side of British history in a way that was very easy to understand and made me want to learn more about it.

The pictures made it easy to visualise the finds and put them into context.

Living on the Edge of Empire: The Objects and People of Hadrian’s Wall is a lavishly illustrated glimpse at the daily lives of soldiers and others who lived in and along Hadrian’s Wall during the several centuries it was occupied by the Romans. While there are more academic works available, this is an excellent read for non-researchers or for those who might want an introduction to more difficult, comprehensive works, say a writer planning on setting a story in Roman Britain.

Following the introduction, Collins divides the book into eight sections: the makeup of the communities and homes, dress, food and drink, weapons and armor, daily business and entertainment, religious beliefs, “unknowns” (more on this later), and the post-Roman years of the wall. As noted, the book is chock-full of photographs illustrating the archaeological conclusions regarding types of food eaten, shoes worn, weapons wielded, etc. This is absolutely the highlight of the book. The photographic detail is vividly sharp, and while most of the objects show the expected signs of their age, some of them are in shockingly good shape, allowing the reader to fully imagine them in the hands of a Roman soldier as they drank or diced.

The text, meanwhile, is efficient, informative, and clear throughout. Collins does a good job of avoiding being overly generalizing in his approach, making necessary distinctions when necessary in terms of class or regional background, noting for instance that most inhabitants probably slept on simple floor pallets, while those who could afford more luxurious accommodations might have a bed and a hay-filled mattress, and those even further up the social status ladder would fill their mattresses with wool or feathers. One of the more fascinating sections is the religious one, as Collins goes beyond the traditional Roman pantheon most readers will already be well aware of, discussing not only nearly-as-well-known mystery cults like Mithras, but also hyper-local gods whose names are found on shrines, amulets, and the like. I also loved that Collins included the “unknowns” section, which details multiple objects whose purposes we can only guess at, such as a series of dodecahedrons whose creation required “a skilled craftsperson” (some possible uses: game pieces, part of a regularly-used scepter or standard, a surveying tool). I enjoyed this section because it showed Collins as being happy to admit that there’s a lot we don’t know, even when we have objects of study in hand.

In his introduction Collins says “it is my sincere hope that this approach will prove entertaining and illuminating, as well as injecting some humanity into our understanding of the past. Mission accomplished.

To fully enjoy this heavily illustrated book, download to a tablet, not a Kindle. Roman Britain comes to life with gorgeous photos of items excavated around Hadrian’s Wall, from everyday artifacts to items belonging to the soldiers that manned the wall. Readers get a peek into the lives of ancient Britons and the Roman soldiers living in their midst. A must for lovers of history and archaeology